Did anyone watch "The Tonight Show" yesterday? I missed the beginning of his monologue, but he kept harping on this woman in the audience for some reason. It was just mean and rude, I've seen him give some audience members a good-natured ribbing sometimes, but this was just very mean. He made jokes about her living in a trailer, being drunk and so on, and the audience laughed at her. She looked shocked and insulted, and I understand her. Did anyone see the beginning, and was there a reason for this? He should have apologized, maybe he did, I turned off the TV. I like jay, but this was something I hadn't seen before. /mike
It was a little off-character for Mr. Leno, but what he did there is standard procedure in many comedy-club settings. The woman was slow returning to her seat after coming right up to shake his hand and literally stumbled to her seat. I believe she fell on others, trying to get there. Again, standard stuff for comedy clubs, although not for Leno's program. A little more Letterman's style, although even he isn't usually so merciless.
Like I said, I didn't see the beginning of the show, so I didn't see any stumbling or anything else. That at least explains why he said what he said. Yeah, I know it might work in a comedy club, but this was on national TV, so I think there should be different standards. /Mike
I think she also made some noise during Leno's monologue. The reason I think it came off mean was because the camera kept showing her and she wasn't laughing. I expected him to walk up to her right when they went to commercial but he didnt. Did you guys see the ghosts in Jennifer Tilly's pictures? I only saw the hand in the piano picture. Spooky. ~T
Often (if not always), members of the audience that talk show hosts talk to are plants, or have completely briefed on what's going to happen, and how they're going to act.
It was a little biting (He even referred to her as Tonya Harding's sister Susan), but the woman would not be quiet, she kept making these weird drunk noises, loud enough to be picked up by the mics on stage. Her expressions every time the camera came back to her screamed 'drunk' (that goofy where-am-I grin/stupor). Leno was just tired of being interrupted like every 30 seconds and took her to task. I would have had Security escort her out, but its pretty much the SOP of dealing with hecklers where Leno comes from, as Rex said earlier in the thread. But she got what she deserved, imho.
Well, thanks for explaining the situation, like I said, I didn't see the whole thing, only the end. You have restored my faith in Jay. /Mike
I don't think that there was any malice intended, beyond some good-natured ribbing, on Jay's behalf. He's not really that type of comedian. Although, he of course misjudges the audience sometime. I've got a lot of respect for Jay. A few weeks ago, he gave each member of The Tonight Show (we're talking ~400 staffers here) $1,000, with no cap, for each year they had been working with him. I think it cost him close to $2 million. And he makes about 1/2 of what Letterman makes ($17 million to $31 million).
Daniel, I read about the story of Jay "rewarding" his staff as he celebrates his 10th Anniversary as host of "The Tonight Show". I read that most of his staff have been there from the very start, so $1000/year X 10 = pretty good bonus.
